Yesterday, we provided a status update on the first two phases of Art Place at Fort Totten. Bisnow also reported in a newsletter yesterday that the Art Place team has reached out to Trader Joe’s and MOM’s Organic to anchor the second phase, noting that residents have expressed a desire for some type of organic grocer in the neighborhood.

‘Tis true. For several months, there have been rumblings about a Trader Joe’s in the neighborhood. And something of a grassroots campaign has started with residents requesting a Trader Joe’s in Riggs Park through the company’s official location request page. The page allows anyone to “request a TJ in my city.” It states, “There are no guarantees, but being wanted matters to us.” We have been told by a knowledgeable source that the company does pay attention to these location requests and if it receives say around 300 requests to locate in a neighborhood, as opposed to receiving just 12, then it really pays attention. So we won’t go so far as to say that 300 is the magic number to show that the store is wanted, but if you are so inclined to assist your fellow neighbors in getting to that ballpark figure, then go to the location request page and ask for a Trader Joe’s in Riggs Park at Art Place.

Some of the things people have noted in their requests:

• Art Place at Fort Totten is a multi-phase development with the necessary square footage for a Trader Joe’s. It is centrally located to draw customers from different parts of DC (north, south, east, and west) and from areas in Maryland like Hyattsville and Takoma Park. It is also right near Fort Totten metro station, which serves three different lines and several bus routes.
• Trader Joe’s has a positive reputation for being a high-quality store and can compete on price with Walmart and Giant. Also, the store can sell wine and beer if it locates in Art Place, which is on the Ward 5 side of the neighborhood.
• New housing, both rental and for sale, is under construction in and around the neighborhood. Fort Totten Square recently delivered. Art Place will soon deliver 520 rental units in the the first phase. Roughly 40 townhomes are expected at Totten Mews. Additional multi-family housing is expected through WMATA’s partnership with Donatelli to redevelop the long-term parking lot at Fort Totten metro station. And 180 townhomes are expected for the second phase of Fort Totten Square.
• A new children’s museum is coming to the neighborhood at Art Place, which will be an added draw to residents and visitors alike.
• Neighborhood annual median home value is steadily increasing.
• The neighborhood has relatively low crime and is economically stable. See this year’s neighborhood profile sheet: Fort Totten/Riggs Park 2017 Neighborhood Profile Sheet (pdf).

This is what Riggs Park resident David wrote in his request:

My wife and I moved to Riggs Park in . . . . This neighborhood is safe, economically stable, and growing. Fort Totten Square has been completed and the first phase of Art Place at Fort Totten is soon going to be delivered.  Following are several more phases of development to include condos, restaurants, and community art spaces. The [Explore!] Children’s Museum will also be located within the upcoming development. A Trader Joes in the Riggs Park neighborhood will pull customers from Brookland, College Park, Takoma Park, and Hyattsville and likely several other neighborhoods as three metro lines run through the Fort Totten metro station. Additionally, no alcohol at MD Trader Joes will pull people to the Riggs Park location which I assume would sell a selection of beer and wine. There would be no serious competitors to Trader Joes in the area. Yes Organic is in Brookland, but it does not tend to be the main grocery store for customers like a Trader Joes. Giant cannot compete with the prices of Trader Joes (and does not sell alcohol) and Walmart does not have the positive reputation of a Trader Joes nor the high quality selection of a Trader Joes. Please come to Riggs Park. I am including the link to H&R Retail who is responsible for leasing space in the building (http://hrretail.com/#property-2409832-art-place-at-fort-totten.

Can the neighborhood actually support a specialty grocery store with a Giant grocery store just on the other side of the DC/Maryland border, a Walmart with a grocery component in the neighborhood, and a Yes! organic market in Brookland? The short answer is likely yes. Longtime readers might remember that we covered a Vibrant Street Retail workshop conducted for this neighborhood through a partnership with Streetsense, DC’s Office of Planning, and the Lamond-Riggs Citizens Association. [Disclosure: We participated in that workshop, facilitated the asks, and arranged a community meeting on the topic]. Through that partnership, Streetsense completed a market analysis (pdf) of a post-Walmart neighborhood and found that the neighborhood could support a specialty grocery store like an organic or gourmet grocery store.

So if you want a Trader Joe’s, ask for one. Same goes for any other retailer residents want in the neighborhood. There are no guarantees, but it doesn’t hurt to ask.